Old School Hack--the Fictive Way

Rarified Blood

The Royal Ward has secrets.

9

FEB/13

Common Knowledge

The High King Duventel used a cult of Oblivorix, the Forgetters, in his conquests. He fought a war for about 15 years to consolidate this area and others as his kingdom, and his Forgetters murdered everyone over the age of about 50, to suppress memories of the “good old days” and passed down knowledge. He’s ruthless, but the area is less violent now that it is unified.

The Forgetters are a pretty powerful cult in the High King’s government. That’s starting to cause some friction. Both the Forgetters and the High King’s armies are really tough, ruthless veterans.

This area used to be ruled by monarchs of the Kyvan Dur line. Nobody remembers much about them now, but even the name is a reminder of a golden age of prosperity and unity. Their bloodline was mingled with the blood of the gods, it is said. No one knows who their heirs might be, if anyone in the bloodlines even survived. Their empire fell about 800 years ago. There was fighting in this area, all around here, as they went down. Their former capitol, Delrethia, is in ruins not 50 miles from here.

The Job

A merchant named Elizer Hardel hired the adventurers. The Asylum of Kyvan Dur was a place where the Order of Whispers, a Cyclarian cult, took insane royals and nursed them through their lives. Towards the end, they became corrupt, and used the royals as studs to put royal blood in other noble lines, for an obscene fee. The asylum was destroyed by a wrestling dragon and giant, all within killed. Now Hardel has discovered there was possibly an underground part that survived.

His family passed down the secret of royal blood for 900 years. He has spent a fortune to research and find the location of where the asylum once was, and he’ll pay well if they go and explore it, looking for proof of his ancestor’s royal blood. Then he can raise an army and lead a local revolution. He offers 500 gold each, and a bonus for treasures and the jackpot (proof of his royal blood.)

He hired Disuke, a samurai; Sila, an orc; Ty, a duelist; Pith, a gnome with a voice in his head; Magnar, an ape warrior; and Zazskar, a shokoro infiltrator. The adventurers chose Disuke to lead them.

The Approach

About midmorning, the adventurers sent Pith and Zazskar ahead to scout. They spotted guards in black ponchos watching the entry to the caves, and recognized them as Forgetters. They continued scouting up in the ruins of the asylum, and found a gray blurbeast sunning and napping. Returning to their crew, they gathered and approached the ruins in force.

They hacked down the blurbeast, and three more attacked! The adventurers dispatched them, and investigated the secret trapdoor the blurbeasts revealed. As they headed down into the dark, the scouting gnome and shokoro found more of the blurbeast lair, and they slipped past as quietly as they could, following the stairs down into the dark.

The Padded Constructs

The stairs came out in a huge chamber. As they cautiously entered, blades and flame ready, a padded construct tried to hug their leader. Two more loomed out of the darkness to help as the samurai whacked the first one apart. After a pitched battle, four of the constructs lay shattered. Investigating, the adventurers found obsidian stones in the chest compartments, with the symbol of the Kyvan Dur asylum etched on them.

They crossed the room to check out another door, and found more constructs; after a brief and violent clash that left one in pieces on the floor, they withdrew and held the door shut; the constructs eventually gave up and returned to their passive state. The adventurers warily continued to explore.

The gnome felt the wrongness of the place, and the ghost of an orderly leaped out at them and fled screaming. These seasoned adventurers kept their cool, and continued.

The Shrine and the Peace Garden

They followed the length of the echoing hall, and the long corridor beyond, coming upon a shrine. They realized if they put their weapons and fire away, they would not trigger aggression from the padded constructs. Out of curiosity, they encouraged the gnome Pith to aggravate one; he was gripped, and carried to a peace garden, stuck to a pillar that magically held him while other constructs looked on. The walls were decorated with peaceful scenes.

The base of the 4 pillars had bones, and 2 of the pillars had desperate Forgetters stuck to them. The adventurers quickly realized each column had a command word that released its prisoners, and they rescued their gnome friend (then put him back up, to see if that would work, and released him again.) The constructs looked on, disinterested.

The adventurers released and questioned one of the Forgetter scouts, telling him they wiped out his people and finding out the Forgetters had “slithers” and more would come, and that they had not explored very far. They put him back on the pillar, after taking his costume. They also released his comrade and took his costume as well, then put him back.

They left the Forgetters stuck to pillars, and returned to the shrine.

Chambers From the Shrine

In one direction they found an antechamber with genealogy of the Kyvan Dur on the walls. They put a bar down on the double doors, so no one could come in from that direction.

On the other side of the chamber, they found a receptionist chamber with 2 more constructs. Every time they moved to go through one of the 2 doors in the chamber, the constructs got in the way. They withdrew.

The shokoro could not sneak past them, but the gnome could create blind spots. He took the shokoro and the samurai with him, and slipped through one door.They found the Warden’s office, where another orderly leaped at them begging for help, and fled shrieking.

The shokoro found the book with information on the breeding program, and the gnome picked the lock on the desk and got 3 bracelets with the Kyvan Dur asylum symbol on them.

Investigating the other room, they found a big bed and dresser; the conjugal chamber. They left it alone, regrouping out by the shrine.

The Royal Ward

They headed back to the alcoves with the constructs, who had forgotten about them. They headed down the corridor to stairs that wound down, and came to a glowing screen with the asylum symbol on it. With bracelets and obsidian hearts, they walked through without a problem, finding themselves in an ancient wrecked dining room.

The whole area was magically lit by moonlight—but then something wicked approached, bringing darkness. The warden greeted them, and two of the inmates attacked; the violent adventurers made short work of them, and pursued the warden through screens of impeding ghost orderlies. The samurai whacked him in half. The warden’s body began disintegrating, the dust flowing up the stairs. Grim, the adventurers continued on.

They moved through the play room, and the game room, finding the quarters of the creatures they destroyed. They continued on past the shrine, where the shokoro pulled off the silver globe marked with phrenology and moon mapping; the ghosts wailing for release there fled, and the globe seemed to lose its magic. The ape put it back on the altar and apologized to Cyclaria, and they continued.

Through the chapel, and now they were ghosted by a figure in white. Refusing to engage, they found the library at long last! They loaded up on over 40 scrolls of authenticated pedigree, and then they ran. They found the connecting passage to the dining room, and withdrew in haste, wildly successful.

The End

They got out and got 1,000 gold each from their employer, also selling the bracelets and obsidian hearts. Job well done!